Tuesday, 24 June 2014

INTERNATIONAL POETRY MONTH

The Association of
Nigerian Authors (ANA) Kano state branch in collaboration with the American
Corner of Murtala Muhammad Library, Kano had celebrated the International
Poetry Month. The event which was held on 29th April, 2014 at the
American Corner, Murtala Muhammad Library, Kano witnessed the presence of
prominent and the emerging poets. Among the dignitaries at the occasion were former
ANA Kano Chairman; Professor Yusuf M. Adamu, ANA Kano Chairman; Ismail Bala, American
Corner Coordinator; Nura Mudi, ANA Kano branch Secretary; Zaharaddeen Kallah,
Dr. Rabi Abdulsalam Ibrahim, Isa Muhammad Inuwa, Tijjani Muhammad Musa, Maryam
Ali Ali, A.T. Tahir and other distinguish poets.

In his welcome address,
Nura Mudi commended the effort of the Association for reawakening literary
activities in the state. According to him, over the period of their partnership
with the Association, a lot has been achieved, and that made them to appreciate
the partnership. Therefore, he said that the American Corner is ready to assist
the association in anything that would promote education and literary
activities.

The Chairman of the
occasion, Professor Yusuf M. Adamu was delighted with the way ANA Kano maintains
its literary activities. He recounted his experience on ANA Kano Creative
Writers’ Forum of the olden days and related it with the present day fora.

The keynote speaker,
Ismail Bala who is a poet and critic of European and African poetry dwelled so
much on poetry. In his paper titled, “The Poem as a Journey” discussed a lot on
skills of writing poetry and its relationship to reading. The guest speaker
went on to compared the art of poetry to a journey through which one passes,
which could involve a number literary adventures.

Reading session
followed immediately after the conclusion of keynote address. In the first
round, some of the poems presented included, ChibokGirls by Isa
Muhammad Inuwa, The Search in Sambisa
by Yaseer Kallah, and The Cliff by
Ahmad Salisu Ahmad. Also in the round, Zaharaddeen I. Kallah presented a poem,
entitled, The Globalised World, and
Tijjani Muhammad Musa presented a poem, We
Are Struggling to Survive; Only to Die and Badamasi G. Muhd read a poem The Most Eloquent Speaker while Prof.
Yusuf M. Adamu presented a poem entitled, Living
in Peace. Two short stories were presented, one by a primary school pupil, Abubakar
Tijjani Mato who presented a story entitled, Two Friends. The other short story was presented by Zainab Tijjani
Mato with the title, The Day I Will Never
Forget.

You don’t need to be told how interesting the round was as it allowed
young and prominent poets to share their views on literary and current affairs
in the nation, more especially the issue of abducted girls in the nation. Some
of the young poets were more radical with happenings in the nation, which was attributed
to the negligence of our leaders.

The second round began
with a poem entitled, A Poem by Bello
Sagir Imam, and followed by She by
Gwa Dominic Doohemba, while a poem entitled, The Candle was presented by Lawan Salisu Lawan. The next poem with
a title, If You Can’t Beat Them… came
from Nazeer Ibrahim Kallah, while Saddiqa Tijjani Mato presented a poem What a Mysterious Life. Other poems
presented include, Temptation by A.T.
Tahir, Shit by Badamasi Aliyu
Abdullahi, Letter to the Editor by
Mazhun Idris, Yar Giwa by Ahmad
Lawan, My Nostalgia, My-groundnut by
Hashim Abdullahi Tanko and What a Lost
by Ghazali Sani Sanda. The only short story in the round was Zahra Tijjani Mato’s
The Vices Were Punished. Just like
the first round, some of the poems attracted comments and criticisms, which at
the end of the round gave the writers opportunity to respond.

The programme was
rounded up with a vote of thank by the branch Secretary, Zaharaddeen Kallah. In
his speech, he congratulated the participants for celebratings a wonderful
poetry month. The branch Secretary called on the old poets to be attending the
association’s monthly forum in order to encourage the emerging poets. Closing
prayers were offered by Isa Muhammad Inuwa.

About Me

Zaharaddeen Ibrahim Kallah holds a Bsc. Sociology/Political Science, and Masters in Development Studies. He is a bilingual writer, writing in English and Hausa languages.
He works with the Directorate of Academic Planning, Bayero University, Kano.
Zaharaddeen is an-award winning Author of the 2004 Poetry Contest organised by the Nigerian/Belgium organisation www.nigerians.biz; 1997 Hausa Writers' Contest organised by the Mazari Publications and the second runner-up in the 2010 Poetry Contest organised by the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission. Among his works are Ciki Da Gaskiya, Sadauki Mai Duniya and After a Long Silence. He has featured in anthologies, Five Hundred Nigerian Poets by Aboki Publishers, Mazan Fara an anthology of ANA Zamfara, Crumbled Spell an anthology of ANA Kano, and Kwaryar Kira an anthology of ANA Kano.
His book entitled, "The Right Choice" was published under the maiden edition of Nigerian Writers Series.
Zaharaddeen can be reached through: dinik2003@yahoo.co.uk